By the end of July, Russia's international obligations, which it assumes as a new member of the world trade club, the WTO, should come into force. The World Trade Organization today unites more than 150 countries, which account for almost 95% of the international trade turnover. The question of what will bring Russia accession to the WTO worries many of its citizens.
Predicting the situation in a nutshell, we can say that it will be easier for consumers and more difficult for producers. The domestic market will no longer be able to protect the fixed tariffs set artificially and by administrative decisions. The state will be able to provide support to certain enterprises within very limited limits. All this will lead to a natural increase in market competition.
Many changes will take place during the preparatory period, which will last from 3 to 7 years, so sharp quality and price jumps should not be expected. But the Russian consumer will be able to see some of the advantages immediately: it is expected that the duty on the import of imported cars in the first time will be reduced from 30 to 25% of their value, and over the next few years to 15%.
The maximum duty rate for pharmaceuticals imported from abroad will also be reduced by half - from 10 to 5%, duties on imported beer will be reduced 30 times. However, the changes and adjustments that life will make are likely to compensate each other during the preparatory period and the consumer will not feel much relief. The reduction in duties, oddly enough, promises benefits to the Russian budget: it becomes unprofitable to work according to gray schemes, and the imported goods will go through customs in a legal way.
Russian manufacturers of goods and services, as well as foreign companies operating in Russia, will have a harder time. For example, those of them who work in the automotive industry will lose benefits related to the industrial assembly regime, in which Russian-made parts were used.
Machine builders will have a hard time: aircraft building and the production of agricultural machinery and units are under threat - these industries are extremely uncompetitive. The loss of sales markets threatens enterprises of the chemical, textile and metallurgical industries. Banks, insurance companies and other credit organizations will be squeezed out - the share of foreign capital in these industries will increase from 25% to 50%.
But it will be very difficult for agricultural producers. True, it is envisaged that the volume of government subsidies to this industry will increase from $ 5 to $ 9 billion, but this is a temporary measure, calculated only for the first two years. Then the size of subsidies will be restored to the previous level and the manufacturer will be in the same conditions facing the threat of cheap imports of products from abroad.
